Since January 2018, Detroit has made a 44% reduction in veteran homelessness. Because of this progress, Detroit was awarded Rocket Mortgage’s Lighting the Way award and was featured in a video by Courageous, the brand studio of CNN.
“The work of ending veteran homelessness will be here until every veteran is housed,” said Candace Morgan, who worked as Built for Zero’s Systems Transformation Advisor in Detroit.
Here are the organizations who have led the effort to end veteran homelessness in Detroit:
- Homeless Action Network of Detroit
- Blue Water Center for Independent Living
- Operation Welcome Home
- Emmanuel House
- Michigan Veterans Foundation
- Volunteers of America Michigan
- City of Detroit – Housing and Revitalization Department
- Faith Love and Kindness
Detroit attributes the use of by-name lists and the collaborative efforts of many veteran services and homeless outreach agencies during their case conferencing efforts to their success.
Additionally, partnerships with Built for Zero and Rocket Mortgage have helped the continuum of care that serve the veterans in the Detroit area. Rocket Mortgage, which is based in Detroit, has supported the city’s efforts to drive reductions in veteran homelessness due to its commitment to its home community.
“A really core part of their strategy is to bring together every single person who touches veteran or chronic homelessness,” shared Laura Grannemann, the Vice President of the Rocket Community Fund of Rocket Mortgage. That strategy of collaboration and detailed, real-time data is how the Detroit community secured housing for 216 veterans in 2020 — despite all the challenges posed by the pandemic.
The Detroit community has shined a light on the reality that reducing homelessness in a large city is possible.
